Please see: www.bu.edu/eng/current-students/ingalls/faq/jobs

The one complaint we get about Ingalls is it is sometimes too crowded. This is meant to give you an idea of the traffic flow in Ingalls to plan your use.

For the most part, we are not able to pinpoint busy times, but you may be able to. If you are in a big class with an assignment due, the day before and the time leading up to the class will likely be busy, even on a weekend night. Also mornings to 11:00 are slower than afternoons, and the crowd tends to thin out between 5pm and 7pm on weekdays. Saturday is slower than Sunday and Sunday is usually the busiest day of the week from 2pm to 10pm (During a long weekend that changes to Monday). The slowest period is Friday and Saturday nights after 5:00. But all this could change depending on when assignments are due.

We also have some additional study space available for you down the hall from Ingalls. The Career Development Office (CDO), Room 112, will let you use their interview rooms when not in use. This will only likely be Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. To use the space, you will need to make arrangements with CDO staff: (617) 353-5731, engcareer@bu.edu.

You can reserve the large conference room (room C) at the Ingalls website below. The smaller rooms are on a first come, first serve basis and groups have a priority over individuals for all rooms. Only Engineering students can reserve the conference room for up to 4 hours only. This is reviewed each day, so be sure to include your correct e-mail address, so we can see you have access to Ingalls.

If you notice a non-engineering student who does not have card access alone without an ENG student, please ask the Monitor to look into it. Ingalls is a very popular space but it is for ENG students only and their guests. We, of course, want to be respectful to students in other schools but we do need to explain to them that Ingalls was created with alumni funds (not tuition) for the sole purpose to provide services to ENG students and those taking College of Engineering courses. However, we do have a few non-engineering students who have been given special permission to use Ingalls. Most are students in the EngMedic/BME program (technically MED students), student workers at the College, and, of course, those who have graduated from ENG.

We also count the number of people and resources being used each hour and post it at the Ingalls web site. You can see this at the Ingalls website below. Just click “How Busy is Ingalls Now?” You can also call the Monitor at the number below (No, sorry, they cannot hold a room open for you). You may consider Ingalls crowded when it starts to hit 40 people, but we have room for 80-90.

Regular card access hours are each day 7AM to 11PM, including all holidays/breaks and emergency closings, all year round. You can ask the Monitor about overnight access. Monitors are usually available M-F, 9AM to 2AM, and weekends 11AM to 2AM, including Holidays/breaks. Monitor summer hours are reduced.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions, let me or a Monitor know.

Thank you.

For more information, please contact:

Joe Precopio Boston University College of Engineering Office of the Dean 44 Cummington St. B-15 Boston, Ma 02215 617-353-5949 The fastest way to reach me is by e-mail.

For room/lab access, go to:http://www.bu.edu/eng/zaius/

W. Bradford Ingalls Engineering Resource Center: www.bu.edu/eng/current-students/ingalls Ingalls Monitor Station: 617-358-4256

We now have SolidWorks installed on all Ingalls computers. If you know what that means, we are sure you are excited.

Ingalls has become a popular place and we have non-engineering students using the facilities. Unfortunately, students from other schools have taken space and resources from engineering students and we have been asked to do ID checks. Engineering students can bring in guests from other schools but any non-engineering student not accompanied by an engineering student will be asked to leave.

We suggest using an online converter. It will convert the file from a .rar archive to a .zip archive which you can open on the computers in Ingalls. There are many free converters available such as http://media-convert.com/.

At this time, you are not able to print from a laptop. We hope to allow that in the future. We have USB drives available in Ingalls to help you with printing.

The problem is we want to charge it to a quota to control use. We spend a lot of money on printer supplies.

Digital Cam: We now have a digital camera. Please see the Monitor for details.

Web Cam: A web cam has been added to one computer. See the Monitor for details.

New Printer: The new printer will print, copy, fax and print from a flash drive. The manual is located at the printer.

Games: We have Scrabble, Chess, Go, Settlers of Cantan, Risk and Checkers at the Monitor Station when you want to take a break from studying.

CD Burning Software: This has been installed on all computers.

Additional Quiet Study Space: ERB 112, the Career Development Office has interview rooms that can be used as quiet study space when Ingalls is busy. This space is open when a staff member is in the office, usually M-F, 9am-6pm, Mondays to 10pm and interviews are not being held. These rooms have internet ready computers, printers and white boards. The two rooms hold 2-4 people each

Engineering students will be given a $150 credit from Fall to Fall (August to August) for use in Ingalls. The cost of black and white is $.10/page. To see your used amount go to:

https://engprtsrv2.bu.edu:9192/app (This the new site as of 5/1/09.)

You must use your quota wisely. There will be no increase. Based on past use, $150 is more than the average student needs. (Printer error requests to jsp@bu.edu).

Hours and Access Information from the Ingalls Site: www.bu.edu/eng/current-students/ingalls

The main entrance is located on the first floor of 44 Cummington Street next to the elevators. You need card access, using your Boston University Terrier ID Card, to enter and use the facilities. To get card access, go to: http://www.bu.edu/eng/zaius/. Click on Apply for Access (upper left-hand corner) and search for "Ingalls" (without quotes) to find: ERA/MEB/ERB W.Bradford Ingalls Engineering Resource Center.

All College of Engineering faculty, staff and students will be approved automatically and your card will be activated in less than 6 hours and will work in the card readers at the front and back of the Ingalls Center and the front and back door of 44 Cummington St.

Hours (updated 1/10/07)

Doors are locked at all times. The front and side door of 44 Cummington St. are locked nights and weekends. Your Boston University Terrier ID Card will work in all 4 doors during these times: 7AM to 11PM, 7 days, including holidays and snow days. During Thanksgiving recess and from December 23 to January 2, access may not be granted (to be decided). Hours may change and will be posted at this site and in Ingalls. After hours access available, see Monitor for details.

Here are the General Guidelines:

Rooms are not for individual use. Please use the study carrels or center room. Individuals may use the rooms, if no group needs to use them.

The center area is intended as quiet space.

Please watch your belongings at all times.

Some supplies are at the Monitor station.

Please tell the Monitor of equipment problems

Ask the Monitor for any assistance.

Access hours change and will be posted on the doors and Monitor Station.

Only enter with your Boston University Terrier ID Card. Do not let people in without card access.

This is not a lounge. All activity should reflect that.

The Ingalls Center is for engineering students only. You can invite others to your study groups for engineering classes only. (When the room is crowded, we may check ID cards to make room for engineering students.)

You can review the Ingalls site for more information. www.bu.edu/eng/current-students/ingalls

Any questions or problems: eng-ingalls@bu.edu

or during regular business hours: 617-353-5949 B-15 at 44 Cummington St.

Other info:

Food: We do allow food in the Center. However, you must clean up and leave food trash in the barrels outside of Ingalls. If you are neat, we will continue to allow food.

More Computers/Matlab/Printing from Laptops: Ingalls was not designed for a lot of computers. There are computer labs for this. Computers in Ingalls are for short term use. We are working on a system to print from a laptop. The computers in Ingalls do have Matlab. If you have a problem accessing it, ask the Monitor.

Lockers: We have lockers for short-term use only.

Magazines: The ENG Career Development Office, has worked very hard to get engineering magazines for the Ingalls Center. We hope you find them useful. We ask that you be sure to return them when done. CDO also has some career development magazines you may find interesting in their office, Room 112 at 44 Cummington St. If you find an engineering area or topic not covered, let the Monitor know.

We also have at the Monitor Station: PC World, Popular Mechanics, Game Pro, and MacWorld.

Supplies: We have a small amount of supplies at the Monitors Station. If you do not see what you need, ask the monitor. Also, we have placed dry erase supplies in each room. We plan to keep supplies easily available, as long as they are not disappearing too fast.

Quiet Space: One thing we have been told is the library is crowed and people like the quiet of the Ingalls Center. The plan was to put in the TVs and have people use wireless headsets to listen to them. We need to explore this better but the main focus of the Center is a quiet place to study and do research. The TV sound needs to be off at all times, captions on.

Feedback: We would like to hear some feedback from the Ingalls Center users. Much of what you see in Ingalls comes from student suggestions.

Please do not assume your laptop is safe from theft at Igalls (or any other place on campus) Even with the locked doors and security cams, someone can walk off with your laptop, if they want to. Please protect all your belongings in Ingalls.

The Boston University police can register your laptop. You can get more information at:

http://web.bu.edu/police/services/laptop/

Here are some tips I found on protecting your laptop from Komando.com

Protect laptop from theft

Laptops are both powerful and convenient. You can take it with you wherever you go. But one problem is that a thief could take it just as easily. And if that happens, you'll lose more than just a computer. Your documents, photos and other files could also be at risk. Fortunately, some simple precautions can mean the difference between inconvenience and disaster.

Use common sense

Here are a few of the simplest ways to protect your laptop while you're out and about. They won't cost you anything, either.

• Don't let it out of your sight. Wi-Fi hotspots and airports are dangerously distracting.
• Don't leave your laptop in a hotel room. Use the hotel's safe.
• Don't advertise your laptop with a computer bag. Tuck it inside a briefcase or backpack.
• If you leave your laptop in the car, hide it from plain view in the trunk.
• Etch your name onto the laptop's plastic shell. That can make it harder to sell and therefore less attractive to thieves. Of course, it will also make it more difficult for you to sell.
• Keep your laptop‚’s serial number in a safe place. You w’willl need it to file a police report.
• If you are using your laptop in a public place, be aware of your surroundings.T here‚’s a new wave of criminals who will walk right up to your table, grab the laptop and run.

Consider anti-theft gadgets

But for protection in case your computer is out of sight, consider one or two anti-theft gadgets. The simplest is a cable lock, which can keep your computer tied to a table or other immovable object. You can get a basic cable lock for around $30.

You could also get a laptop alarm. Yes, you heard right. For example, there's the DEFCON MDP PC card from Targus. It can sense when your laptop is moved and sound its deafening alarm. It sells for about $100.

As a last defense, tracking services can be effective. If a stolen computer is equipped with a tracking program and service, it will give away its location to monitoring centers. Those centers then help police recover the computer.

You can get tracking services Computrace or CyberAngel for about $60 per year. XTool Computer Tracker is another. It goes for $50 per year.

Encrypt the files

You could put a start-up password on your laptop. Thieves know how to bypass that.

But often more valuable than your laptop is all the information you've got stored on it. If a stranger recovers your financial documents and passwords, you could become a victim of identity theft. So be sure to take precautions with your important files as well.

The best way to protect your files is encryption. Programs like BestCrypt ($60) and PC-Encrypt ($49) are up to the job.

You can also check out komando.com for ideas and advice on file encryption. Don't let the word "encryption" intimidate you. Encryption tools are usually very easy to use. They're designed to do the hard work for you.

Also, don't forget about backups! Disk errors, file corruptions and viruses do happen. But none of them are worth the loss of your important documents. If you need help doing a backup with Windows, you can find the information on my site. You can also use external drives for backups. Some can backup your whole hard drive with the press of a button. And these drives stay safely at home. Common brands offering these drives include Maxtor, Seagate and Western Digital.

From Komando.com

Although Ingalls is a favorite of many Engineering students, there are other quiet study places. Here are some of them:

Central Campus

• Dining Halls - Be sure to look in your residence hall for late night studying in the dining halls. For example, Warren Towers transforms the Melville Lounge at night into a study lounge.
• ENG Tutoring Center, 44 Cummington Street, Room 105 - It’s a quiet room and if you get stuck on a homework problem, there’s a tutor right there to help you. It’s open Monday through Thursday, 5-11pm and Sunday 7-10pm.
• Espresso Royale, 736 Commonwealth Avenue - Relaxed, Café-style environment. The coffee will help keep you awake!
• George Sherman Union, 3rd floor - This is next to the Dean of Students Office (nice and quiet!). It’s carpeted, and GSU food is right below you!
• Ingalls Engineering Resource Center, 44 Cummington Street - Exclusive for ENG students. Get card access in Zaius & check it out. Crowded at times but group study rooms available.
• Pardee Library, School of Management, 595 Commonwealth Avenue, 3rd Floor - There are good cubicles and plenty of internet ports. Starbucks is in the building for a quick study break, too.
• Photonics Building - Plenty of internet ports and some good cubicles placed around the building.
• Random Classrooms (PSY, CAS, GCB, etc.) - As long as a class is not in session, you can use classrooms on campus. Try the Psychology Building (64 Cummington Street), the College of Arts and Sciences (725 Commonwealth Ave), and the General Classroom Building (750 Commonwealth Ave).
• School of Education Library, One Silber Way, Basement (corner of 605 Commonwealth Avenue) - The library isn’t generally crowded and they have some sofas available.
• School of Law, 765 Commonwealth Avenue, First Floor - There’s a lounge area that is quiet with good tables and vending machines.

West Campus

• Sleeper Hall, 2nd Floor Study Lounge - You can stay at West Campus, but still leave your room.

East Campus

• Myles Standish Hall, 610 Beacon Street - Features the Bradford Lounge (you can talk in this lounge), Lower point Lounge, and Point Lounge (this is a quiet lounge. There’s a monitor there to make sure it’s quiet).
• Shelton Hall Study Lounge, 91 Bay State Road, 9th Floor - The view overlooking the Charles River can’t be beat. There is a quiet room and a group room.

Off Campus

• Boston Public Library - Take the Green Line to the Copley Street Stop. Turn Right when you exit the train. The library is on your right. If you need to get off-campus for a break, this is a nice quiet place to go. All the resources you could need are there. Bonus: you get to go downtown!

Did you know there are 27 libraries on campus? They are great places to study, and they have the resources you need! For the complete list, check out: www.bu.edu/library.

If supplies disappear, they will not be replaced. You may look for a stapler someday and find there are none. Some items have been returned in a few days, some have not. Often, I found the person responsible and sometimes I have not.

We know that the vast majority of Ingalls users show great respect for the place and other Ingalls users but it will be a few people who ruin it for others.

We have also noticed that some people have taken Ingalls items to put in a lab. No item should be removed from Ingalls for any reason. Supplies for the labs, including paper for the printers, are supplied by the Depts. If you are in need of a supply in a lab, I can help you get it but you should never remove something from Ingalls.

If you have a missing item or know where it is, please get it back to Ingalls. Once these items are gone, they will not be replaced.

The alternative to this is to lock things up and you will have to give your ID to the Monitor. I have been reluctant to do this because we want Ingalls to be easy to use. If a Monitor is not available, you will not be able to get the item or your ID back – too much stress for an already stressed student.

So, let’s all take care of Ingalls and keep the supplies where they belong for all to use.